


The Clerk Said You'd Like It

by WynneCluster



Category: Sonic X, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Can you believe this started with asking "What's Topaz's last name anyway"?, Damn her gay heart, F/F, Feel free to imagine what was in the box, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Lesbians, Partners in both senses of the word, Takes place before episode 26, Written in an afternoon, mostly feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:15:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22978240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WynneCluster/pseuds/WynneCluster
Summary: Topaz's feelings for Rouge have been growing almost ever since their first meeting, but she can still hardly believe she ever got into this situation in the first place.(or, a meandering glance at Topaz's thoughts and feelings over the first 26 episodes of Sonic X)(might update with little Rouge/Topaz drabbles in the future)
Relationships: Rouge the Bat/Topaz (Sonic X)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 22





	1. The Clerk Said You'd Like It

There were many reasons one might have wanted to join GUN's intelligence division. Maybe it was patriotism for one, or childish spy dreams for another, or even just chasing a stable paycheck and a good pension.

And maybe that last one was pretty appealing universally, but as she stared at the piece of paper in her hands she knew for well and for certain that none of those reasons had brought her here.

"With this promotion, your life is now a government secret," her new CO sat across from her, as typical a military man as she'd ever seen with his crew cut and black shades, "this isn't a mandatory practice, you know, and I hear you specially put in a request to have as much information expunged as possible, Ms.-"

"Topaz," she cut him off reflexively, but from the way he raised an eyebrow at her she immediately realized her mistake, "Sir... I don't believe there's any reason to bandy about confidential information on the clock..."

In truth, she just didn't want to hear her name spoken aloud. It was a name she'd avoid for the rest of her life if she could. Even with her excuse though, she expected to be chewed out for interrupting her direct superior. What she didn't expect was the gross smile he plastered on his face.

"And what about off the clock?"

And suddenly her new CO was her least favourite kind of man.

"According to GUN policy, Sir," she said coldly, emphasizing the title, "I don't see any reason why we would interact outside of work hours."

To her surprise he actually chuckled and leaned forward in his chair, a much more pleasant smile gracing his face.

"Good answer, Agent Topaz," he reached out a hand to her, "I think we'll get along just fine."

Topaz exhaled quietly in relief and shook his hand. A test of some kind, then. She wasn't too surprised in hindsight about it. She was officially a spy, after all.

"Now while we might still be military, our division is a fair bit more relaxed than what you'll have been used to getting here," he settled back into his chair and started to explain, "and while I don't mind getting feedback from my agents, you all proved the worth of your opinions by getting here after all, I will expect a minimum of respect while you're addressing me."

"Of course, Sir!"

She stood, she saluted, and after some more briefing she left his office. She didn't really care about the more relaxed work atmosphere. She did eventually find out that he never actually learned her birth name in the first place, and that did make her more comfortable. She even ended up going out for drinks with him and the rest of the unit a couple of times, but most of Topaz's off time was spent alone.

She hadn't joined GUN to make friends after all. She only learned who the others in her unit were so she could coordinate with them. That was all the information she needed, so it was all she cared to learn. 

It was during that alone time that she often questioned what exactly she was doing with her life. Her country had somehow managed to avoid starting a frivolous war in the years since she became Agent Topaz, so her job as a "spy" was mostly boring desk work chasing empty leads and running drills with her team.

It had gotten to the point that she wondered if her whole career as a GUN Intelligence agent was just going to pass by without incident. And she felt fine with that, at the time. Serve out enough time to retire in good graces to some tiny town with a new name. Maybe adopt a bunch of cats and get a reputation as a weird old woman.

Okay, so maybe her fantasies weren't the most extravagant, but at least they were attainable.

Or they felt that way until that fateful day.

A mysterious blue hedgehog was the first sign of trouble, with reports filing in just as she was getting ready to clock out for the night. The following days were a hassle with reports of more strange creatures, breakouts at a secure facility, and eventually an attack by some extra-dimensional scientist outfitted with technology years ahead of anything their scientists had seen to date.

The government was left floundering for a while trying to come up with a response to this "Dr. Eggman" crisis, but eventually her team was tapped for a mission. The objective was simple: Capture the mysterious lifeform known as "Sonic the Hedgehog" so that the government could attempt negotiations.

Because "simple" involved kidnapping aliens now, apparently. But Topaz had no time to worry about the smaller details. She was selected to take point in the ambush, and be the first point of official contact with Sonic. The first official government liaison with an alien lifeform, even if very briefly and in the context of being a kidnapper.

So, no pressure.

But... The "simple" operation didn't go as planned. Instead of a blue hedgehog the trap was sprung by an unidentified bat girl. She stood surrounded by the spotlights and guns and definitely wasn't their original target, but Topaz was given command of the situation and it was therefore up to her how to handle this deviation from the plan.

"Oh, it's a trap," the bat girl announced, clearly bored by the show of force GUN was brought.

"Don't move!" Topaz ordered as she slowly approached the unidentified alien. At the very least she needed to get the bat out of the trap so they could try for Sonic again. And unlike Sonic, Topaz didn't need to be gentle with her.

"Fine, fine~" the bat put her hands up mockingly as her soon-to-be-captor approached.

Topaz pulled out her handcuffs and grabbed the bat girl's wrist. She wasn't resisting, which made things easier, but she kept up a cocky demeanor throughout that chipped away at Topaz's professional demeanor someh-

"You like 'hard play,' do you?" she said, lowering her eyelids at the handcuffs in a way that completely shattered Topaz's disaffected mask.

"What?" she pulled back from the alluring back and started blushing at the remark. Then the rest of her unit started LAUGHING of all things and her blush deepened.

Because OF COURSE she'd ended up blabbing about being a lesbian that once time she got super hammered...

"What are you laughing about!?" she demanded of them, not sure if she was more angry at them for laughing at her at all or because it was in front of... She ignored that train of thought.

With a call to her commander he wizened up enough to stop laughing himself and quietly bring everyone else to order before stepping in to take command of the situation.

Which Topaz was definitely fine with and it didn't feel like a slight at all. Though she was honestly too flustered from that bat's comments to say too much more then.

Damn her gay heart.

She identified herself as "Rouge the Bat" and Topaz's CO recognized her as a jewel thief that had been on GUN's radar. She'd heard about the case, but Topaz hadn't seen the security footage for herself just yet.

Ultimately, the decision was made to bring Rouge to the president in place of Sonic. It was the first time Topaz had been in such a high-profile situation, though she ended up making a fool of herself completely. First letting that bat get on her nerves again, then being made to get her coffee like some inexperienced intern...

Worst of all, she managed to get flustered and make a mess of the coffee as soon as the President entered the room. Not that he or his aides were paying care to anything but Rouge.

It was no real surprise when the President let Rouge keep the diamond she'd taken. Officially-approved crime was pretty normal in the life of a spy, after all.

Theoretically, at least. When you're not a glorified pencil-pusher.

The first official mission with "Agent Rouge" was a tense one. Topaz had the honor of not only being to one to slap an explosive bracelet onto Rouge's arm, but also of keeping her commander from hastily killing an incredibly unique asset/new recruit with it.

She'd enjoyed getting some digs in at Rouge on the flight to Eggman's base (and honestly maybe she enjoyed Rouge's backtalk a little bit too) but she didn't have any really malicious feelings towards the bat. And true to his word on her first day working under him, her commander took her slight insubordination in stride.

Though even with Topaz wanting to give Rouge at least a little benefit of the doubt, she still didn't trust her. So when Rouge tried to go off exploring the base on her own once they'd finished scouting the area Topaz volunteered to accompany her.

She definitely DIDN'T volunteer to watch a woman cleave through a thick steel door with her kicks and no she was NOT complaining but DAMN HER GAY HEART. She at least managed to keep up a professional air after seeing that though.

Of course, Rouge was after a gem. One of the strange Chaos Emeralds that accompanied all the strangeness arriving on Earth. And of course it was guarded.

The situation ended up with Topaz captured by a robot and Rouge forced to face it and three others alone. And somehow, with the odds stacked against her, Rouge managed to defeat them all stylishly. She even busted the explosive bracelet off of herself and used it to take care of the robot that had captured Topaz.

After that... Topaz couldn't help but trust her. She'd risked a lot for Topaz's sake and even showed that, bomb or no bomb, she was never truly a captive. She was probably free every moment of her capture...

Regardless though, that chaos somehow ended up with Topaz getting unofficially "assigned" to Rouge. It wasn't long after that they were officially partners. It wasn't officially a promotion, but suddenly Topaz was having regular meetings with the President and was a familiar face to the top military brass.

A far-cry from her idle dreams of small towns and too many cats.

Rouge was the one to get nearly all of the attention, but some of it managed to bleed over to Topaz as well. Maybe it was just a matter of being close to Rouge for long enough that people mistook her for being almost amazing too, she thought...

No matter what it was that caused it though, she'd somehow managed to fake being a big deal to the point she could even give the President advice. As long as Rouge was there to back her up, at least.

Rouge and Topaz had managed to form a friendship, despite everything. It was nearly always back-and-forth teasing and prodding, yet they were also almost never apart. Topaz didn't know what to think of it. She'd kept herself distant from other both at work and at home before, yet suddenly not only her working hours but also her off-time was almost exclusively defined by Rouge's presence.

She did have some time apart from Rouge, however, and she decided to make use of one day away from her partner in particular to do something... Special.

So she found herself inside an expensive jewelry shop. Truth be told, she actually had a fair amount of money stored away. She didn't tend to spend much on herself, so she'd been putting most of her money away for retirement.

But that was when her retirement plan was pointed squarely at 'weird old cat lady' instead of... Something much bigger. And she knew she'd have to put on a big showing to make it a possibility.

When she'd warned the president about the potential dangers of trying to use Chaos Control to send Dr. Eggman back to his world she was only being half-honest. While it was absolutely true that Chaos Control brought many potential dangers with it, that wasn't really what was on her mind.

If Eggman was sent back, it wouldn't be him alone. There's no way Sonic and the others from their world would let him go and terrorize their original world unchecked. They all would surely follow him. And that would mean... Rouge would leave too.

And even though she'd only known her for a short while, Topaz absolutely couldn't allow that.

"Hello, Miss!" the clerk behind the counter greeted her cheerfully at her approach, "is there anything I can do to help you today?"

She nervously nodded and glanced around. While she objected any time Rouge questioned her taste in jewelry, she really was kind of clueless compared to someone like Rouge. She didn't have even a quarter of the style of her partner.

But with a little help, she could probably buy a gift that stated her intentions clearly. She didn't think her heart was strong enough to say it all out loud, but certainly her feelings would reach through jewelry...

It was Rouge, after all. She just needed a professional's help to make sure it wasn't too tacky.

"I'm looking for a gift to signal the start of a relationship, so..." Topaz took a deep breath and tried not to stumble through her words.

"Please pick out something that a beautiful woman would want!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that's where I'm ending it.
> 
> The show didn't tell us what Topaz got Rouge and neither will I.
> 
> I took some liberties with the dialogue from the one canon scene I wrote out, since I'm going off the Japanese version.
> 
> This was mostly just kinda rambling through Topaz and Rouge's history, so apologies if it wasn't exactly what you were looking for in a Rouge/Topaz story.
> 
> If I do end up updating this, it'll probably be with little scene ficlets since I don't really have any kind of story in mind. I do want to see more content for these two though, so... *rolls up sleeves*
> 
> Please look forward to it!


	2. Is Topaz Not Your Real Name?

"Topaz~" Rouge called out to her partner.

She'd say "Partner in Crime" but Topaz would probably object to that, if not as vigorously as she might have at the beginning of their team-up.

Topaz could only sigh as she heard her name called.

"Yes, Rouge?" she said for what felt like the fiftieth time that day (it was the twelfth) already knowing she wasn't going to get a satisfactory response.

And right on cue her beautiful bat friend simply smiled and waved. It was Rouge's latest tactic for teasing, it seemed. Topaz assumed that she'd explain her angle if she was just asked, but that might possibly be admitting defeat in whatever game the alluring thief had crafted in her own mind.

As it was, Topaz just went back to preparing dinner for the two of them.

It had been a few weeks since Rouge had moved into her apartment and Topaz was still unsure how she felt about the whole arrangement. After spending so long alone, suddenly her home life was consumed with Rouge.

Her voice, her jewels, her scent, her jewels, her very presence in the room, her jewels, her jewels... her jewels... 

So maybe the apartment was a bit hard to look at with the glare of full sunlight now, but Rouge preferred the dark anyway so the curtains were usually shut during the day.

Even through all the strangeness and forcing herself to not try and figure out which of Rouge's gems were stolen and which were her payment from the government though, Topaz had managed to settle in to a pretty comfortable rhythm with her partn-

"Topaz~"

Her eye twitched. Rouge had now sidled up alongside her and was staring with that smile of hers that she HAD to know made Topaz's mind go a little blank every time she used it.

Damn her gay heart.

"Okay, okay, I'll bite," she put her knife down and turned to Rouge, sighing a little in defeat, "if I ask you why you keep calling my name will you explain what you're doing?"

"What I'm doing?" Rouge said theatrically, putting a hand to her chest in mock offense, "and why do you assume I have to be doing something Topaz dearest?"

She fluttered her eyes and did her best to look innocent and fantastic. Or maybe she was just going for innocent and happened to look fantastic as usual. Topaz was definitely blushing a little either way. Gay heart, damn, yadda yadda.

Topaz simply raised an eyebrow in response, pretending like the burning in her cheeks wasn't happening.

Rouge giggled and smiled up beautifully at Topaz, "sorry, I just wanted to see how long you'd wait to ask."

She reached up to playfully poke Topaz's nose and smiled.

"I was just thinking about how lovely your name is~" Rouge looked at her partner the way she looks at particularly precious stones and Topaz's gay heart had never felt so damned before.

Attempting to ignore that, and her brightly burning blush, Topaz turned quickly back to chopping vegetables. She really had no idea how she stumbled into living with a beautiful alien bat woman who knew EXACTLY how to push her buttons but she really had to figure out how to cope with it.

"It really is such a beautiful name," Rouge giggled some more and stared at Topaz, "your parents had excellent taste."

The giddiness Topaz had felt from Rouge's flirtations suddenly vanished, and the burning in her cheeks turned to ice. It wasn't just the comment, though being reminded about her parents was far from "fun" for her, but also... She suddenly felt like she'd been lying to her partner.

Not that she ever claimed anything that was untrue but... There is something people call a 'lie by omission' and that's what it felt like to Topaz in that moment.

"Actually..." she paused her prep work and swallowed on reflex, "Topaz is my code-name as an agent... my legal name is classified information."

"Oh?" Rouge looked at her quizzically. She didn't look hurt or offended, which helped Topaz reassure herself that she was maybe being silly with her worries, but she definitely looked intrigued. Which was bad. Because Topaz REALLY didn't want Rouge to be curious about her legal name.

"It's... something you can request when you become an agent," Topaz said, her worries increasing that Rouge might ask her to reveal her legal name, "they redacted a bunch of my personal information from official records, so it's simpler to send me in undercover if need be."

"Getting rid of the paper trail ahead of time..." Rouge put a finger on her chin and thought about it, "it makes a kind of sense, I suppose."

She tried to not sigh in relief that her friend was accepting the explanation so easily. She felt kind of guilty again, even though she wasn't lying about it. She wasn't. She just really didn't ever want to talk about the reasons she buried her old life and her legal name. 

"But that means..." Rouge continued and looked Topaz in the eye, "is Topaz not your real name?"

Her blood turned cold and her mind burned. It wasn't a question anybody had bothered to ask since she buried her legal name years ago. Her grip on the knife tightened as she tried to regulate her breathing strictly.

"Topaz is..." she took a steadying breath, trying to hold off the weird panicky emotions rising in her chest, "definitely... my real name."

She squeezed her eyes shut and barely noticed the moving air as Rouge took flight. She started slightly when her partners arms closed around her and she felt Rouge press up against her back.

"Good," she whispered into Topaz's ear, "it suits you better than any name probably could."

Rouge didn't say anything else as Topaz finished making dinner. She just half-flew half-hung off of her quietly. It wasn't until after they'd finished eating that Topaz finally broke the silence.

"Thank you."

Those two simple words were all she had to say in the moment.

Rouge responded with just a kiss. Not the first the two had shared and definitely not the last, but of all the kisses they'd had until then it felt the most special.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Damn Her Gay Heart" is basically the alternate title for this fic
> 
> In that I wish I'd thought to name it that instead, kinda


	3. Good Morning

Topaz loved waking up. The thought was a bit of a strange one to her, especially as she'd really never been a morning person, but it was definitely a fact that she'd come to love and look forward to leaving the world of dreams and returning to reality each day.

She was turning into a sap, she'd realized, and she had absolutely no problem with that.

As she yawned and turned her her side that morning, her vision still a little blurry, she caught a rare sight in the morning light peeking through the not-quite-closed curtain. The light itself was a bit of a rare sight too, as Rouge preferred keeping them all closed, but the jewel thief didn't always remember to close them when she got back home.

That might seem strange for most people, but nor for someone sharing an apartment with Rouge the Bat. And definitely not for someone who got to wake up and occasionally see a very satisfied bat woman sleeping in the bed next to them.

That was the real rare and valuable sight, and Topaz made sure to take it in fully whenever it happened.

It had been a few weeks since she and Rouge had started sharing a bed. At first Rouge started coming up with corny excuses that mostly sounded like bad pickup lines to get into Topaz's bed at night. After a few nights of that though, they just naturally started going to bed together. Not that Rouge slept through the night.

Their schedule was pretty simple. Dinner, some flirtatious talk, bed, and then once Topaz was asleep Rouge would leave to go out and about in the night. Most of the time she got home shortly after Topaz woke up, all bright and chipper and amazingly gorgeous even before Topaz had a chance to get her first cup of coffee.

But sometimes... She'd be in bed, sleeping. If not for the disturbed curtains Topaz would almost think they'd slept through the night together. Which felt nice, and properly romantic, but it wasn't something she expected of or wanted from Rouge. She could leave as much as she wanted, just as long as she came back Topaz would be happy.

Plus, it helped that she looked so happy and beautiful and perfect when Topaz looked at her sleeping in the morning. Topaz figured that these rare mornings where she got to gaze upon the face of beauty itself probably meant that Rouge had managed to steal some valuable or fabulous gem or something. That was fine. It's not like she ever joined GUN out of a sense of ethics or anything like that.

If it made Rouge smile, then it was fine.

... Okay so maybe she was a teensy little bit absolutely and hopelessly in love, but she didn't really care. Her life finally had a purpose. She finally had something to live for except running from her past and hoping to grow old and die somewhere she wouldn't be missed.

She reached out and stroked Rouge's cheek gently. Her partner, her best friend, and the best thing that ever happened to her. Rouge the Bat was truly the most amazing woman Topaz had ever met.

She stirred at the tough and started to open her eyes. Topaz smiled. It was the beginning of another beautiful day with the most beautiful woman in the universe.

"Good morning," Topaz whispered, "have a nice night out?"

And if Topaz had anything to say about it, these beautiful days would never end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a cute little update here.
> 
> (the nest one will be smaller, but I make no promises regarding the size of future updates)
> 
> (I also make no promises of future updates happening in a timely fashion)
> 
> (fanfic is very much a thing I do as I have time and inspiration but I hope this can be enjoyable and good for you regardless)


	4. Perfect

Topaz was curled up on the couch, with a lovely bat lying on top of her.

Her partner was giggling and admiring a fist-sized ruby that paled in comparison to Rouge's beauty, and Topaz couldn't help but smile and stare at the gorgeous bat.

For just that moment she felt that life was perfect.


End file.
